Nothing--I SAID NOTHING

Daniel 6:20-23

When he came near the den where Daniel was, he cried out anxiously to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you faithfully serve been able to deliver you from the lions?” Daniel then said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no wrong.” Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

Romans 8:38-39

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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This is the lion's den
I hope you knew that before you came in
This is where the angels and the devils fight
And their choosing up sides tonight

"Snakedance" By Bob Walkenhorst recorded by The Rainmakers

Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. Nothing. In our sin stained world this is a foreign concept. Hopelessness, helplessness, despair are constant companions. But this is not our way. Our hope is in Christ. Our hope is in the resurrection. Our hope is that in all of the plans that men prosecute and execute against one another; in the end God in Christ defeats them.

Jesus the Messiah conquered death. I suspect after that it's smooth sailing.

Now this is the lion's den. We don't don't get tossed into it like Daniel, it's just the state of our affairs. The angels and the devils choose up sides and they're both ready for a fight. If we don't know it's sin that does this in our world we're foolish. We better know what the score is before we take the field.

The most important part of that score though is our hope is in God in Christ who lives and breathes in us. This is the lion's den, but Daniel knew his hope was in the Living God, the God he worshiped under threat of death. The God we worship in the promise of new life. This is our hope. Our hope is that no matter what our fragile human experience may tell us, NOTHING can separate us from the love of God.

The Blessed Call

Romans 8:15b-16
When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

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If life gets hard to understand
And your whole life is way out of hand
Come to Poppa
Come see your poppa

"Come to Poppa" by Earl Randle and Willie Mitchell recorded by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullit Band on "Night Moves"

The days are tough, they're absolutely crazy, and they have been since the first cavemen wondered if they would get enough game to last the winter. The only difference between then and now is that we don't have to hunt and everything's a lot faster. But here's the promise, no matter how tough things are, God is there. We are used to the phrasing of "God the Father," but there's a difference between that and "Abba," a wonderful difference.

"Abba" is the ancient Aramaic equivalent of the American English word "Daddy." In Ireland they would say "Da." "Poppa" is another way this could be said. The difference is an innocent lack of formality. It's a word that is not formal, it's not "father" it's "daddy."

When we cry out "Abba" we put ourselves before the Lord like children, dependent for all things. Yet we aren't coming as beggars, we come as sons and daughters. We come not out of honor or because the father is the patriarch. We come to "Daddy" out of love and joy.

We jump into the outstretched arms of the Lord.

Abba is our blessed call to God. This is how we come to the Lord when life gets way out of hand, coming with love and joy and confidence. Thankfully, that's just how God wants us to come.

Like on Animal Planet

Romans 8:5

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

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I gotta feel it in my blood (whoa oh)
I need your touch don't need your love (whoa oh)

And I want and I need
And I lust animal

"Animal" written by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, Phil Collen, Richard Savage, and Joe Elliott recorded by Def Leppard

Let's start this with a couple of definitions. The definition of lust in scripture is more than "he's cute" or "she's cute." It's more on the line of "She's cute and I'm King David. How I can get this Bathsheba into bed? I don't care if Uriah ends up in a heap." In the language of scripture there's a difference. In scripture there's a difference.

Something Paul is clear about though is that there is a time and place for physical attraction, and to Paul that place wasn't outside of grace. There's life under the law which convicts us of sin and there's life in Christ Jesus which sets us free from the law of sin and of death. Lust is covered under the law. Love is in Christ.

If Paul had gone to his local record store and picked up a copy of Def Leppard's "Hysteria" and checked out this tune, he would have been appalled. He would have said that this is just the sort of thing he was talking about.

Our sinful nature takes us to the point where we treat our bodies like trampolines, we just jump up and down on it and enjoy the pleasure it gives us. After we're done, we don't pay any attention to it. Paul would say this is not the nature we have been given by God. We are to seek the higher calling of spiritual life, not just animal lust.

"I need your touch don't need your love" is an empty way to live our lives. It's not how we should ever treat a partner. Hooking up is the junk food of physical touch.

Now, that being said, God gave us our bodies and our partners to enjoy one another. There is a physical touch of love and there is a touch that is rowdier and randier which with your partner is also an expression of love. God intended for us to love and enjoy one another and even our randy physical touch is connected to our spirituality.

Live in the Spirit, love in the Spirit, and by this our touch in the Spirit.

May Your Dreams Be Realized

Martin Luther King, Junior Day


Romans 8:18-21

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

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Sleep, sleep tonight
And may your dreams be realised.
If the thunder cloud passes rain
So let it rain, let it rain
Rain down on he.

"MLK" recorded and composed by U2 from "The Unforgettable Fire"

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Within all of us there is a dream of freedom. This is the dream Martin Luther King, Jr. had for all African-Americans, all Americans, and all humanity. In King's words, "Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" (Excerpt from King's "I Have a Dream" speech delivered on August 28, 1963 from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.)

King's dream comes a little closer every day for the Children of God. King's dream slips away a little bit every day for the children of the fall. Of course these two groups are not exclusive, actually they're identical. We are all born of sin and redeemed by God. This is what makes the yearning for King's dream more difficult. We are instruments in the hands of God for Christ's everlasting kingdom on earth; and we are prisoners of our own demise.

On this day, on the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior, we remember the sufferings. We can remember fire hoses directed at protesters. There were fights. There were arrests. There were lynchings. The ultimate price was paid by many in this war so fought so that truly all people could live like we were created equal. The battle is not won yet either.

As great as the sufferings are; freedom, peace, and liberty for all God's children is worth the high price. Many have paid such a high price for freedom. Christ too paid a price for our freedom, and it's the price Christ paid for our freedom and our salvation. Now it is up to us to do something with that salvation given to us by God's good grace through faith.

Both prices are so very high, so let us act and live and work in ways that honor those who have purchased our freedom at such great costs.